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Tag Archives: Real Life

She marches around the house saying “Muuah. Muuuaah. Muuaahh.” It took a little while, but we figured out that she is not attempting to say “Mom”: she’s kissing us. When someone kisses back at her she becomes excited and thrilled and generally acts as if all is right with her world again. If she hears any noise that sounds like akiss she begins calling “Muuahh.” We’re having fun with this. *looks innocent*

She can very clearly nod “yes” or “no” to questions. What’s funny is when she hasnt quite decided on her answer, so she swings her head in a few circles before settling on one or the other. 🙂 Even though she’s not talking at all she understands everything said to her, and her ability to answer questions is quite handy.

She’s running to give hugs when Daddy comes home. She’s bringing books to anyone she thinks might read to her. She calls the cat by running around the yard meowing loudly. She giggles when birds come to the feeder outside her window.

Unfortunately, her talent for disaster has taken some precipitous bounds as well.

It started last Sunday with the Cornstarch Incident.

The next day she discovered how to climb atop the kitchen table, where she not only broke the eggs that were in the basket, but she carefully painted a path across the table with them, and then climbed down and added egg to the cabinet door…. And her hair…. And the floor… and the wall…. all within the space of half a math lesson.

Next she discovered how to remove her diaper. But she was wearing an adorable little dress which disguised this fact. There were puddles, and worse, to clean up from that one. The same day of the diaper removal a rooster got into the living room. I have had chickens for 9 years and never, ever has one WALKED INTO MY HOUSE!!!!!! Any guesses as to what was the first thing that rooster did when he got nervous? *sigh*

The following day, my lovely little lady discovered how to open the toilet, a source of endless wonder.

And then, she found the dog bowl……..

Life, lived rapidly, seems to be my Ordinary Moments these days.

On a brighter note, I can finally drink coffee again. I’m not sure if I’ve already mentioned this, but it’s a Really! Big. Deal. In honor of that, I thought I’d add a picture that has been making me chuckle all week long. It showed up on my FB feed and now lives in my head. 😀

Oh, and it looks like the cat is pregnant as well as the dog. The children discovered a large orange tom far up a tree the other day. They spent the better part of their free time trying to coax him down, or climb up to him, but neither option succeeded. The following day he was gone, and now Clever is looking suspiciously rotund.

Last year I made an interesting discovery: my home runs better on a schedule. When I am not required to put thought into what happens next, I suddenly have mental energy to devote to what is currently happening. Our schedule has helped me to become a far more “present” mother.

I would be remiss in not mentioning how much Mystie Winckler’s writing has affected me. Her words helped to pull me out a very dark place and showed me how managing my home could be done, even by someone who prefers thinking and reading and creating to boring everyday life. I highly recommend her Rejoicing In Repetition ebook.

Over the next few weeks I’ll posting a bit about how our day works. I have no reason other than the fact that it was similar posts that helped me to find the equilibrium for my own home. It has taken me over a year to figure out the rhythm of our lives, and how to be flexible where it matters. Even now, with the current schedule having been in place for months, the details of it are still a work in progress. Maybe I’ll get it all figured out before it changes again, maybe not. But in the mean time, I am able to bring an increased measure of peace and productivity to our home.

Before I go on, I think I should mention two things about my attitude towards schedules, because I think they make a difference. The very reasons that I find a detailed schedule makes our home more peaceful might make such a schedule a great burden to some with more perfectionist tendencies.

First, our schedule is always Plan B. The schedule tells us what must be done if we don’t have a better idea. The trick was to schedule the necessary events so that only a unusual opportunity would become more important than the schedule.

Secondly, I feel no personal compulsion to accomplish everything on my list each day. The schedule works well to keep me from wandering aimlessly from room to room, trying to choose the most important task to tackle. It keeps me from spending three days organizing one room while the rest of the house falls apart around me. It spreads out my labor so that everything gets a bit of attention, which is not a talent that comes naturally to my project-oriented self. But it does not cause me a moment’s distress if I missed a chore time, dinner was late, or nobody got to bed on time. It is an ideal to strive for, not a set of rules to follow.

With all of that out of the way, here is a glimpse of what our day holds. In the day’s ahead I’ll talk a little more about what happens during each component of our day. There is a copy of this in my Circle Time Binder and a copy of it on the refrigerator for the children to access.

Stronghold

noun
A place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack.
A place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld

Nahum 1:7
The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

Haven

noun
A place of safety or refuge

Psalm 107:28-30
Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.